Stork Nest in Dead Tree

In the village of Krabi, close to the Latvian border we saw this stork nest on top of a dead tree. Most of the stork nests we have seen in Estonia were on top of electricity-poles and a few on top of chimneys. One sometimes wonders where storks made their nest before there were any man-made structures.

Stork nest on a dead tree

Incubation of stork eggs takes a bit longer than one month and the feeding of chicks takes another 2 months. Storks can live up to 30 years and tend to return to the same area each summer.

The overall population of storks has dwindled over the past century in large parts of Europe, even disappearing entirely from certain areas. However in Estonia, storks are thankfully still returning each summer.

Over the years that have passed, the tree and nest in this picture have gone.